ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 98435
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| Date: | Sunday 20 August 1944 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Boeing B-29 Superfortress |
| Owner/operator: | 444th BGp /676th BSqn USAAF |
| Registration: | 42-6330 |
| MSN: | 3464 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | USAAF Base A-3, Kwanghan Airfield, southeast of Guanghan, Sichuan -
 China
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | AAF Base A-3, Kwanghan Airfield, China |
| AAF Base A-3, Kwanghan Airfield |
B-29-10-BW 42-6330: Delivered to USAAF 28 January 1944. Allocated to the CBI (China-Burma-India Theater of Operations) and issued to the 444th BG, 676th BS, USAAF: Named ‘Fickle Finger of Fate’
During the night of 20-21 August, ten of 13 B-29's took off late from Chengtu to attack the Yawata Iron Works and five attacked secondary targets. 62-6330 was written off (destroyed) when crashed into a cliff near USAAF Base A-3, Kwanghan Airfield, southeast of Guanghan, Sichuan, China on return from mission to bomb Yawata, Japan, 20 August, 1944.
All but one of the twelve crew were lost on August 20, 1944, when their aircraft “Fickle Finger” (42-6330 flew into a cliff near the Kwanghan base in China, returning from the Yawata mission). The last communication between the crew and the control tower did not indicate a problem, but for some reason the plane veered away from its flight path and was observed to crash and burst into flames.
Crew of B-29 42-6330:
Major Charles A. Hansen, aircraft commander
1st Lt. Harold H. Heinbaugh, co-pilot
Capt. Stephen I. Silverman, navigator
1st Lt. Roy W. Peerman Jr., bombardier
M/Sgt. Robert A. Gidley, flight engineer
T/Sgt. Albert J. Lobozzo, radio operator
S/Sgt. Denver P. Edington, gunner
S/Sgt. Howard L. Richel, gunner
S/Sgt. Walter W. Gilonske, gunner
S/Sgt. Harold D. Lanham, gunner
S/Sgt. Virgil E. Belford, radar operator
The lone survivor of the accident, not on mission due to illness, was radar operator Virgil Belford, who later lived in Great Bend, Kansas.
Sources:
1. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Aug1944O.htm
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1.html
3. http://usafunithistory.com/PDF/0600/676%20BOMB%20SQ.pdf
4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150341955
5. http://www.444thbg.org/apps/auth/login?why=mpw&try=1&wp=1&next=millerulinec.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 08-Jun-2017 16:46 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 23-Mar-2020 17:49 | DG333 | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Operator] |
| 03-Jan-2022 16:52 | Anon. | Updated [Total occupants, Narrative] |
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